


Earthling Courting Rituals

by faenova



Series: How Five People Fall in Love [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Multi, everyone is older than 20, this takes place a long time after the start of the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7604671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faenova/pseuds/faenova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Allura and Coran are often baffled by the paladin's behaviors. Even more so when romantic behaviors are thrown into the mix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Odd Behaviors

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder that everyone is of age in this story, somewhere around 19-20ish, except Shiro who's a few years older. Putting him at maybe 22/23.

"Quick question," says Pidge. She had been waiting right at the door of Allura's chambers and startled the princess as she walked out. Before Allura could reply, Pidge was already continuing, hardly letting Allura step out of her room. "It's about paladins. Not us specifically, but like, the previous paladins. All of them. It was just a curiosity but would you happen to know the statistics of how many paladins formed, er, romantic relationships with each other?"

"Romantic...?" Allura looks confused for a moment, but then a thought clicks. She _has_ seen her paladins acting a bit strangely around each other. She had been attributing it to nerves after a particularly rough mission on a planet called Janaun, but maybe it was something else. She isn't familiar with the courting processes of earth after all, but she has her suspicions. "The bond between paladins is special," she smiles softly at Pidge. "I think you should just let it grow on its own, no matter what form it takes."

"Oh...kay," Pidge hesitates. "That's great, but, you didn't actually answer my question."

Or perhaps her suspicions were completely wrong. She silently chastises herself for jumping to conclusions so quickly. "Well," she clears her throat. "I don't know off the top of my head the number of times that the relationships between paladins have turned to a more romantic nature. I'm sure mentions if it must be somewhere in our records, if you feel like digging."

Pidge pauses, looks thoughtful for a moment before turning tail and giving Allura a quick "I might, thanks," as she dashes out of the room.

Allura has a feeling that this isn't going to be the last she hears on this subject.

 

~

 

Keith and Lance wouldn't even look each other in the eye, that's the first thing Coran notices. That might be normal if it were accompanied by furious glares when the other wasn't looking, or insults thrown around when the other wasn't in the room, or Lance ranting a mile a minute about Keith's mullet. But no, not a word was said between the two or even about each other.

"Did something happen with you and Keith?" Coran asks when he and Lance are alone on the navigation deck. Coran does routine checks on their coordinates and destinations and Lance likes to join him. He watches the maps of stars scroll past and sometimes asks questions about the galaxies or tries to match the planets they've been on to the ones on the map. Coran likes to indulge him, and he enjoys the company as well.

"What?" Lance asks, looking up from a cluster of dwarf planets. "I didn't hear that."

"I asked if something happened between you and Keith," he repeats. "Are you mad at each other?"

"What? No. Everything is fine with Keith. I'm not mad at him. Nothing happened between us, why would you think something happened between us?" It all comes out in a continuous stream with no pauses.

Coran quirks one of his bushy eyebrows.

Lance continues. "Absolutely nothing is going on with me and Keith. You're imagining things."

Coran shrugs but doesn't look convinced. "If you insist."

"Good. Because I do insist," he says. Lance looks back at the surrounding map. In the faint glow of the tiny stars, Coran can see a blush creeping up on his cheeks. Interesting.

 

~

 

Allura and Coran both keep on catching the paladins staring at each other with what Coran could only describe as "stars in their eyes." It's only when they think no one is looking, of course. And they get embarrassed and instantly deny staring if someone does catch them.

Except for Hunk. Hunk does it the most, and Hunk doesn't actually deny it when he gets caught though he's obviously embarrassed about it. "Oh, you know, I'm just really proud of my friends! They're all amazing people, I can't help but admire them."

It's happening more and more often.

 

~

 

They free a planet under Galra control where the primary sentient species look like what Pidge calls an upright antelope (spawning at least an hour's discussion on what exactly an antelope is, followed by crude drawings on Lance's part that left Allura more confused than when she started the conversation), but the thing that the paladins fixate on about the odd looking gangly creatures is that the minimum requirement for a romance seems to be three people in the relationship, and more than that was common--and even _encouraged_.

Shiro asked her later how common polyamory is in the universe.

"That's a very broad question," she says. "Off the top of my head I would say common. There are millions of species all with their own laws and customs. Given enough time, I'm sure you could always find someplace where the abnormal is normal on some far off planet."

"What about Alteans?" he asks. "I've kinda been curious about how you guys view relationships, especially since you can change genders on a dime."

"Us? Well, marriage is a sacred thing. It's not a decision left up to just one person, as it affects not only them but the lives around them. But our matchmakers, you could call them, are usually good about those they pick to be together. But if anyone refuses, the family, those getting married, the matchmaker, or even close friends or... well, anyone important in your life, really, it can set things back or cause the marriage to be called off completely. There's a lot of thought that goes into finding a partner on Altea."

"So, arranged marriages? Huh."

"Yes, I suppose you could call them that," she shrugs. "And what about humans? How do you view relationships?" she countered.

"Well now that you've asked, I'm drawing a blank," he chuckles. "But, I suppose you could say we "mate for life." Or at least we try to. You're supposed to find "the one" and raise a family and be happy forever. But lots of people get angry about who you are and aren't allowed to love... it's a problem, but, humans are slowly getting better about it."

"That's not so different from us then!" Allura says brightly.

"Nope. Not much at all."


	2. Flower Crowns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk has a skill the others didn't know about.

Allura sits at the top of the grassy hill and watches her paladins as they explore the open field. Shiro and Coran had gone to the city near where they landed to restock on supplies, and the rest of the group decided to take the opportunity to stretch their legs and breathe air that hadn't been recycled a thousand times by the castle.

Keith is laying down somewhere at the base of the hill, lost in the tall blue grass that stretches as far as the eye can see. Allura only knows because Pidge is talking to him, just her head visible where she's sitting hunched over her laptop. Lance is making his way up one of the similarly blueish trees scattered around the field and Hunk is by himself, examining the large pink and yellow flowers sprouting out of the grass.

"These would make good flower crowns," Hunk says to no one in particular.

"What can do what?" Lance calls from an impressively high branch. Allura didn't even notice how far he had climbed.

"Nothing, just talking to myself," Hunk says. He sits down next to the flower patch and starts plucking them out of the ground.

Allura enjoys quieter times like these. She had been frantic the first few weeks, pushing for everyone to be working and training as much as they could. But she has a tendency to work herself too hard, and Coran had told her to ease up on the paladins and herself for once. So now she allows herself time to slow down, like she used to, before the Galra became the enemy and their ragtag group of seven became the universe's last hope for freedom. It's been doing wonders for her mental health, and the paladins seem more in tune when they can relax together instead of constantly doing drills.

Allura is jolted out of her daze when Lance leaps off the tree in what might be an impressive jump, but it's ruined by his shriek, as well as the fact that he trips and falls immediately after landing. He springs back up a second later like nothing happened and leans on Hunk like an armrest. "Whatcha got there?"

"These." Hunk hands Lance a perfect ring of large pink flowers with drooping thin spotted petals, and smaller bushy yellow flowers filling the gaps.

Lance takes the crown gingerly. "Whoa, I didn't know you knew how to make these!" He flicks the big drooping petals experimentally. "That's pretty cool."

"My aunt taught me. She gardens a lot."

"Huh," Lance mumbles. He holds it out for Hunk to take back. "Neat."

"Oh, no, that one is for you. Keep it," Hunk insists.

If Allura didn't know any better, she would say that Lance is flustered by the sentiment, stumbling over a "Me? Really? Uh--thank you!" before carefully putting it on his head.

There's a moment of silence between them before something shifts in Lance and he's acting normal again, striking a pose. "The perfect gift for royalty like me, obviously!"

"If you're royalty, I've ascended to godhood," Pidge comments dryly.

"No one asked you!" he shouts back.

Hunk has opted to ignore Lance and walks over to Keith and Pidge. Keith is sitting up now, and Hunk holds out two more flower crowns (nearly identical to Lance's) for the both of them. Pidge stares at it for a moment like it's something foreign and precious, then eagerly snatches it up and places it on her head, positively giddy at her new accessory. Keith takes his with a reverence, like if he holds it wrong it might disappear.

"These are great, thanks!" Pidge exclaims.

Keith finally dons his crown, he says something to Hunk so quiet that Allura can't hear it, but... is his face flushed? She can't quite tell from this distance. Hunk is embarrassed, mumbling about how he just saw an opportunity and took it.

She notices that Hunk has one last flower crown in his hands, and none on his head. "Are you going to put that one on, or is it for me?" Allura laughs.

Hunk, however, goes wide-eyed like he forgot she was there watching. "Oh. Uh, um, no... it's actually for--"

"SHIRO!" Lance shouts and makes a mad dash for the hill that Coran and Shiro just came over, hover-cart dragging behind them with the supplies. The others don't move, just watch as Lance talks a mile a minute while walking back with Shiro.

When they're all in the same vicinity, Shiro blinks in confusion. "Flower crowns?"

"Hunk made them," Pidge grins up at him.

"I made one for you too!" Hunk says, maybe a little too quickly. He holds out the last crown for Shiro.

Like the others, he seems genuinely touched by the crown. He doesn't pick it up, but lets Hunk carefully place the crown on his head for him. He stands up straight and beams at the group. "How do I look?" he asks.

"Like a way better king than me," Lance says. Pidge gives him a thumbs up.

Coran had quietly made his way over to Allura while Shiro was being crowned, and now he looks at her questioningly. "Is this some Earth thing that I missed an explanation for?"

"No, I didn't get one either," she admits. Flower crowns were hardly an unfamiliar concept, but on Altea they were considered a thing for children to wear in place of actual jewelry that was too easily broken or lost by those of a young age, or for those too poor to afford metals and gems. Beautiful, but ultimately a sign of poverty or lack of responsibility. Allura makes sure the paladins aren't listening when she tells Coran "But they've all reacted to the crowns... interestingly. Like it means something special."

"In my humble opinion, Princess," Coran twirls his mustache between his fingers thoughtfully. "It looks an awful lot like a kind of courting ritual."

"You think?" She looks back at the paladins, talking amongst themselves. "I did wonder. They've been acting odd around each other. Not in a bad way, just... odd."

"What a grand opportunity! We get to witness a romance blossom before our very eyes!" Coran exclaims.

Allura quickly shuts him up. "We don't know that yet, let's not jump to conclusions," she hisses.

"Ah, of course, Princess." Coran quiets down. "Though if it is part of a courting ritual, it's been a long time coming. They've been stepping around each other for weeks."

"We can't force them to rush things," she chides him. "I was given the impression that Earthlings mate for life. If that's the case, then finding partners must be as slow and careful a process for them as it is for us."

"That would make sense."

"Just don't rush them, please," she reminds him again. Shiro walks over with the rest of the paladins in tow, all sporting flower crowns. Even Hunk, who now has a lopsided one that looks like it might have been patched together by everyone under Hunk's instructions. He's grinning as he casually chats with the others.

As they pass, Coran winks at Allura. She rolls her eyes, but she's smiling as they both follow the paladins back into the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not too happy with the art in this, but ah well. if you wanna see more of my art or talk to me about the fic, you can hit me up on tumblr @nova-dragon
> 
> i actually wrote this entire chapter (and most of the next) when i was on a plane back home, which shows a testament to how much i'm obsessed with this fandom--usually planes put me to sleep within 15 minutes of takeoff.


	3. Handcuffed (Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much for not rushing them.

It had been _weeks_.

Allura was reaching her limit. The paladins were _ridiculous_. It occurred to her that they had no access to matchmakers early on, no family to judge their choice of partners, which could set things back. When she not-so-subtly brought up the subject of Earth relationships again with Shiro, he had informed her that while approval from family was probably a good thing to have, Earthlings from his culture largely picked their partners without regard for what anyone else thought.

So if that was the case, and the paladins had so _obviously_ chosen each other already, why are they all stepping around each other and pretending their feelings didn't exist?

"It's baffling," she tells Coran.

"Well, can't deny that. I thought the flower crowns would be the start of something, but they really haven't gotten anywhere, have they?"

"Not even a hint of progress." She tugs on a strand of her hair. "Hmm."

"That's your idea face. What are you thinking?"

"I'm going to give them a push."

"You're the one who said we shouldn't rush them," he reminds her.

"I did. But that was before I realized that Earthlings are romantically incompetent," she groans. "Or at the least, our paladins are."

"They do seem reluctant," Coran agrees. "Just be careful."

"I just want to give them some encouragement. Nothing drastic," she reassures him.

 

~

 

Hunk feels like they've been transported back in time to their first week in the Castle of Lions.

Allura had caught them unawares at lunchtime and handcuffed them to their chairs.

Again.

"Um, Allura," Hunk says hesitantly. "Why?"

"At least she waited till after we finished eating this time," Pidge mutters.

Allura stands up straight and puts on her best Princess airs. "My reasons are simple. I'm not unlocking these handcuffs until you five can figure out your feelings."

There's a good minute of silence. Shiro goes rigid in his chair. Keith is suddenly looking anywhere but the other's faces. Hunk can feel a blush creep across his skin, and Pidge is very successful in making herself seem even smaller to avoid being looked at. Lance mumbles "Wait what."

"You heard me," Allura crosses her arms.

Another silence. Someone coughs, Hunk isn't sure who. He feels like he's about to burst, so he takes the Lance route and blurts out "Okay so, like, I like you guys. A lot. Like more than a brotherly kind of thing, and uh. I mean all of you." He looks around at his teammates. "Not singling anyone out here."

"See?" Allura beams at Hunk. "Wasn't that easy?" She looks around at all the paladins, most of whom are staring directly at Hunk. Allura takes that as her cue to leave. "Well, I don't want to intrude on this too much. Now that I know you're working in the right direction, I'll leave you to it!" She turns around and begins walking through the door.

"What? No!" Lance yanks on his handcuffs, but they won't let him remove his hands from the armrest this time. "You can't just leave us here!"

"I just did!" Allura calls out with a small wave, just as the doors close behind her.

Silence again. Hunk is getting sick of the awkward tension. He clears his throat. "Sooo. Is anyone else gonna confess or am I the only one who feels this way?"

Pidge groans loudly. Hunk perks up as all the eyes move from him to her. "Okay, I guess, I admit that I kind of... maybe... thought I had crushes on you guys but I mean I wasn't _sure_. I've never cared about romance all that much, I thought it was dumb for a long time, and I've never had a crush on a bunch of people at once so I was ignoring it and pretending it didn't happen and I still don't really know if it's happening cause it's not supposed to happen with a bunch of people at once, right? That’s not normal?"

Hunk vaguely wonders how Pidge can fit all that air in her tiny lungs.

Lance decides to take the stage and leans forward to get the other's attention. "Keith kissed me, does that coun--"

" _I did not!_ " Keith yells indignantly. "You grabbed me and said you needed to test something, then smashed your face into mine!" He huffs, his face red from embarrassment, the blush spreading all the way up to his ears. "It wasn't even a _good_ kiss..."

Lance looks offended. He opens his mouth to retaliate, but Shiro cuts him off. "Calm down, both of you. Lance," he addresses the blue paladin. "What were you trying to test?"

And now it's Lance's turn to blush. "To see if there was... something there... besides our rivalry..." he trails off until his words are a mumble, but everyone elseis so quiet that no one has trouble understanding him.

"Well?" Pidge asks. "Was there anything there?"

Keith makes a squeaking noise and gets even redder, if that's even possible. Hunk grins. "I'm guessing by Keith's reaction, yes."

"Th-that doesn't mean anything!" Keith stuttered. "It's probably just... our connections to our lions. Allura said that as the bond gets deeper we'll be more connected to each other. We're probably just... just feeling that!"

"I mean, that's a possibility. But Even if it were the case, that doesn't mean anything we're feeling isn't real." Hunk shrugs. "It just like... strengthens it. Reinforces the bond."

Everyone looks at each other. Somehow, their gazes all fall on Shiro, who looks deep in thought.

"Shiro...?" Pidge asks. "You’re the only one who hasn’t said anything yet yet."

It takes Shiro a minute to respond, and Pidge has to snap her fingers (though she can't do it in his face, her hands are still firmly attached to the arm rests). "Huh?" he finally looks up. "Oh. Uh, yeah."'

""Yeah" as in "Yeah I like you guys too," or...?" She leaves the question hanging.

"Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa, hold up,' Lance jerked forward against the cuffs again. "Are we actually acknowledging this as a thing? All of us can’t be a thing together at the same time, right?"

"Yeah," Keith agrees. "That’s not… that isn’t right, is it?” He sounds unsure of himself.

Another awkward silence. Hunk wants to hit something, this is getting old. "Well the K’taajen, those weird antelope guys? They didn’t have a problem with things like this."

"We’re not K’taajen," Pidge reminds him. "Does that even apply?"

"Well we’re not on Earth, so do Earth rules even apply?" Hunk countered.

"Technically, no," Shiro speaks up. He's looking out in the distance, like he’s still thinking. "The paladins are supposed to be above the laws of individual planets. We have our own code of conduct. We’re… I don’t want to say we’re the law, but…" he hmms, trying to find the words. "I guess, in short, Earth laws don’t… exactly apply to us anymore. Not unless we want them to right now."

The silence returns, but it’s not awkward. Everyone processes what he says, what that could mean for all of them…

"Are… are you saying…" Lance starts, but is unable to finish. Shiro loses his composure and looks down, his face flushed.

"Well if we really aren’t restricted by Earth laws… or norms…" Keith shrugs.

"Dude!" Lance exclaims.

"Wait, Lance," Pidge pipes up. "Were your feelings just for Keith, or for all of us?"

Lance doesn’t get any redder, but he does look more embarrassed. "M...maybe all of you…"

Hunk grins.

"Do we kiss now or something?" Lance mumbles.

"I mean we kind of can’t." Pidge jerks against her handcuffs to demonstrate that they very much can't.

"Um, when do you think Allura will come uncuff us?" Hunk asked.

“I’d give her a half hour,” Shiro says.

Pidge hums thoughtfully. “Should we keep talking about this, then? What are we gonna do?”

"I think that we should take it slow," Shiro answers her. "Just… figure out how this is gonna work. It’ll be a lot of trial and error, but most relationships are. We just need to communicate with each other."

"But we’re actually gonna try this out.” Hunk can’t really help but grin at the thought. It’s exciting. He loves his teammates, and he never really thought he would get to love them in this way, but he definitely isn’t complaining.

"Yeah," Shiro smiles back. "We’ll try it out. We can make this work."

Allura walks in a split second later. She had been listening at the door.

Pidge throws her shoe at the princess the second she's uncuffed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's all! this just stemmed from my curiosity at how the paladins might approach this kind of relationship and where it would all start.
> 
> i'll be uploading a new story in this series which will be a collection of short stories with them, well, figuring things out. dunno when it'll go up, and it'll probably be updated sporadically. but keep a lookout for that if you're interested! thanks for reading!


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